Product innovation and the decision to invest in fixed capital assets: Evidence from an SME survey in six European Union member states

This work explores the relationship between product innovation and the decision to invest in fixed capital assets among a sample of SMEs in six European Union countries located in both peripheral and more central areas. We find that the presence of product innovation reduces the probability to invest. A firm’s size exerts a direct, inverted U-shape effect on the probability to invest and an indirect effect through the linear effect of size on the probability to innovate. The gap in the probability to invest between innovative and non-innovative firms increases with size.